A Tale of Two Shortlists: Volume One – Viva Las Manchester!

In volume one of A Tale of Two Shortlists, we discover how Manchester has been selected as one of eight potential locations for the UK’s first super-casino…

Published on May 25th 2006.

In volume one of A Tale of Two Shortlists, we discover how Manchester has been selected as one of eight potential locations for the UK’s first super-casino…

Yesterday the Casino Advisory Panel announced that Manchester’s proposal for the Casino will be taken forward for further evaluation, along with seven others.

If successful, Manchester’s proposal will involve building a Las Vegas style casino complex at the new Sportcity area of the city, which would put 2,700 people in work.

Other locations under consideration for the regional casino are Blackpool, Brent, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Greenwich and Sheffield. Blackpool, the supposed ‘Las Vegas of The North’ and the only other Northwest location on the shortlist, is controversially being supported by the North West Development Agency (NWDA) ahead of Manchester.

Councillor Richard Leese of Manchester City Council however, has other ideas:

"If there is to be one pilot regional casino scheme it must be in Manchester. We believe the proposed site at Sportcity in East Manchester offers a robust test bed for the successful implementation of an, as yet, untested concept in the UK."